Michael Jackson's finances center of trial

Michael Jackson waves in Tokyo in this Sunday, May 28, 2006 file photo./AP

A year after Michael Jackson was acquitted of child molestation charges, a lawsuit by a former associate is headed for a trial that will put Jackson's chaotic financial dealings in the spotlight.

The pop star is not expected in court but he will be seen through videotaped depositions.

"To my knowledge, he's not scheduled for any court appearances," said Jackson's spokeswoman, Raymone K. Bain. She said that Jackson, who has been living in Bahrain, is traveling in Europe. He answered questions twice in depositions in London.

Jackson is being sued by F. Marc Schaffel for $3.8 million in what Schaffel says are unrepaid loans and expenses, unpaid salary for work on a charity record and his share of proceeds from two TV specials that were produced to bolster Jackson's battered reputation after child molestation allegations surfaced.

Facts involved in Jackson's criminal trial last year are likely to be revisited when Schaffel testifies about his role in attending to the family of a boy who claimed he was molested by Jackson.

But most of the witnesses called by Schaffel will be money managers and business advisers. Jury selection is set for July 26.

Bitter feelings between Jackson and Schaffel are evident in pretrial briefs.

Schaffel's attorney, Howard King, portrayed the singer as an incurable spendthrift who sought financial guidance from advisers, then ignored it.

"Jackson carried no credit cards, wrote no checks, carried no 'walking around money' and had people attending to his every need," said King's trial brief. "Jackson hired competent advisers to make business decisions then frequently ignored the decisions being made and ... incurred expenses without regard to any rational limits or accountability, as though funds were endless...."

He maintained that Schaffel was manipulated by Jackson, who cheated him out of millions.

"Although the public may perceive Jackson as a soft-spoken artist concerned only about his creative endeavors, the evidence at trial will show that Jackson is a master at manipulating the people around him," said the document.

King said Jackson cajoled his advisers with promises of "undying love as well as great rewards."

"Jackson was a master of assuring his advisers that the success of any particular plan would ensure that adviser a lifetime position working for Jackson," said the lawyer. "... However they were frequently dismissed when Jackson didn't want to take their advice to reign in his profligate spending or terminate other activities that were damaging to his image and career...."

For his part, Jackson claims that Schaffel defrauded him and hid the facts of his allegedly shady past.

"To say that Schaffel is an unsavory character would be an understatement," Jackson's lawyer, Thomas C. Mundell, said in a pretrial filing. "He is a professional swindler and pornographer with a long history of dishonest, immoral and manipulative behavior."

Mundell argued it was Schaffel who convinced Jackson he was the right person to help the pop star produce and release a charity single called "What More Can I Give" in 2001. He said Schaffel was entrusted with handling millions of dollars on Jackson's behalf and keeping records for Neverland Valley Entertainment, a firm set up by Schaffel.

"This case is deceptively simple," Jackson's lawyer said in his trial brief. "Stripped to its essentials, it is an accounting case, albeit one with an overlay of fraud, deception and self-dealing on the part of plaintiff Marc Schaffel."

Rather than owing Schaffel money, Jackson's lawyer said Schaffel owes Jackson funds.

He said that Jackson broke all ties with Schaffel in mid-November 2001 when he found out that Schaffel's "other job" was as a producer of gay pornography.

"Obviously, Mr. Jackson could not afford to be publicly associated with a gay pornographer in connection with the release of a record," the lawyer said.

King said this was part of a "smear campaign" and "mud slinging" which should not be presented to the jury. Conversely, he suggested that Jackson would not want Schaffel to testify "with regard to Jackson's sexual proclivities or intimate details of their conversations."

He said that Jackson continued to work with Schaffel well into 2004.

Jackson's depositions show the singer claimed a poor memory of transactions involving millions of dollars and said he never met his business manager, Alan Whitman.

In a bizarre detail, Jackson maintained he got his spending money by leasing cows that lived on his Neverland ranch. During the deposition there was this exchange between King and Jackson:

Q. "So all your cash, whenever you need cash to shop or whatever comes from the cows?"

A. "Yes, believe it or not."

Q. "I don't but that's OK. I don't have to."

A. "I'm telling you."

Q. "OK. So Alan Whitman's office never arranged for you to get cash, correct?"

A. "Not that I can recall because I don't remember talking to Alan. I don't think I have ever met him."

In other exchanges, Jackson said, "I'm foggy about what happened."